Beaters

[Big D]

Was tooling along on my commute in the Thunderbolt Grease Slapper, AKA my '98 Grand Am AKA a royal POS... looked down, and my odo was perfect all the way across- 222,222!

Gotta love a beater!



Do I lavish all sorts of care on this? Hell no! Lucky to get an oil change a year. Driver's side window doesn't roll down, proportioning valve haywire on the brakes, making the right rear lock up at slow speeds, original struts, shocks, broken seat spring.



Couple years ago, tranny quit shifting into high gear unless you let off of it. Thought "there she goes"... well, it's just the same. Just ease off, it'll shift!



Cold air (still) 31 mpg, doesn't use oil.

Last Feb., I had to put a new battery in it. And I thoroughly hated the thought I doubled the value...

Wife wouldn't be caught dead in it!

Hey! Let's see the beaters!

[jerseymutt]

Haven't had a beater in about 20 years. The wife and I drive very little mileage, try to keep the cars/truck in good shape and run them 10 plus years. Never had one go over 150,000 miles. Most of the time I get rid of them around 80 to 100,000 just cause they are getting old. Although the way the economy is I may be keeping these two for the rest of my life.

Mutt

[Bonehead9]

Originally Posted by jerseymutt

Haven't had a beater in about 20 years. The wife and I drive very little mileage, try to keep the cars/truck in good shape and run them 10 plus years. Never had one go over 150,000 miles. Most of the time I get rid of them around 80 to 100,000 just cause they are getting old. Although the way the economy is I may be keeping these two for the rest of my life.

Mutt

Same here...wifey thinks we both need decent cars(hey....she pays most of the bills, who am I to argue)

[jerseymutt]

And repair the paint on the hood and that's still a good looking car. Obviously Big D you have spoiled your wife if she won't ride in it.

I worked for a Pontiac dealer back in the 60's and 23 years for a Chevy dealer and the GM cars were always being slammed by the so called experts in favor of Hondas and Toyotas but I know many people running GM cars near and over the 300,000 mile mark with little trouble. I feel bad to see GM in the trouble it's in cause the cars are better quality then the experts like to admit.

I remember the early Hondas imported to this country had trouble getting an engine to meet emmissions and stay together past 50,000 miles so they started an engine replacement program (GM copied it I think to build the Target Motor program) that could put the car back on the road in one day and people bought it. If GM, Ford or Chrysler tried that back in the 70's they would have been in court quicker then Honda could replace an engine.

Also have a friend that has a Grand Am with 360,000 miles so they bought a new Mazda 3 so they would have a more dependable car. They say the Mazda 3's gas mileage is so bad, when they go on a trip they take the Pontiac. I don't know how bad the Mazda mileage can be but that's what they told me.

Just some thought's, really not on topic I know.

Mutt

[wrencher]

Had a 87 Olds 88 had just shy of 300k on it when it calved.Used to get 35 miles to the gallon anytime on the highway.have a 97 grand am that I just gave to my kid it only has 200k on it.I drive a 97 buick now with just 100 k on it wifeys caravan has about 260k on it body is falling off it but she dont care as long as it gets her where she wants to be.
My sporty only has 17K on it

[bcchop]

wouldn't really call it a beater but i drive my 51 chevy quite a lot. will have a rat rod if i ever get my 55 pu back on the to do list..any time it gets aboe 40 degrees i ride my 25 year old bagger. i perfer the older rides.. i have to keep the ol lady in a new ride tho.

[jerseymutt]

I would agree with having older rides if I had a place at home to work on them. My HD is an 89 and I can work on that in my Mom's garage where I keep my tools, but if I get an older car I would have to work on it outside and if it's my only ride I would be working in some crappy weather at some time down the road and then I would be cussing it out and wishing I had a better/newer car or truck.

The wife thinks I should have an old beater but forgets how much I use my truck, especially in the spring when I'm hauling mulch and garden stuff and the fall when I'm taking load after load of leaves to the dump. She also forgets my 61 six cylinder Ford and my 69 Chevy 6 cylinder window van only got 6 to 8 MPG. My 02 GMC 4x4 truck gets 14 to 18 MPG.

Mutt

[LouEvo XL]

ok Big D.....

here is my ole purple truck at work......

95 S-10 4wd vortec v-6, 120 thousand miles....

Plywood for a new communications room.